Pure Polyvinyl Chloride Research Articles

Inorganic nanoparticles-modified polyvinyl chloride separation membrane and enhanced anti-fouling performance

Porous nanomaterials are important additives in the preparation of high-performance separation membranes. To prepare two nanocomposites, mesoporous silicon dioxide (MCM-41) as a carrier and zinc acetate as a zinc source, Zinc oxide-loaded mesoporous silicon dioxide (ZPP-MCM) was prepared by using polydopamine (PDA) and Polyethylenimine (PEI) as water-soluble ligands, and zinc oxide-loaded mesoporous silicon dioxide (εZI-MCM) were prepared by using iminodiacetic acid (IDA) as water-soluble ligands and coated with ε-poly-l-lysine HCl. The two nanocomposites were blended into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membranes as modifiers. The results show that the overall porosity of the composite membrane is increased. However, the surface roughness of the composite membrane is decreased with narrow pore size distribution, which was favourable for selective filtration. εZI-MCM nanoparticles can be evenly distributed on the film due to their excellent dispersion, which solves the problem of uneven distribution of nanoparticles on the film, and the surface of the prepared composite film is relatively flat. In addition, introducing the nanoparticles significantly improves the surface hydrophilicity and water flux of the composite membrane. In the experiments of pure water flux and bovine serum albumin (SBA) flux, the flat film with nanoparticles shows higher flux than pure PVC films. The addition of nano-composites further improves the anti-fouling performance and flux recovery ratio of the modified PVC membrane, and the recovery ratio of flux was more than 90%. This work exhibits that Porous nanomaterials have successfully modified the hydrophobic PVC membrane, affording good anti-fouling performance.

Improving the Physical Properties of Nanofibers Prepared by Electrospinning from Polyvinyl Chloride and Polyacrylonitrile at Low Concentrations

In this study, both polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were dissolved in dimethyl formaldehyde (DMF) with 8 wt. % concentrations at 25 : 75, 50 : 50, and 75 : 25 of PVC: PAN blending. For the investigation of the homogeneity and compatibility of mixture polymer solutions, it is examined by rheological properties such as viscosity, shear stress, shear rate, and calculation of the flow behavior index, while the investigation of the stability and high density of nanofibers without beads used field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetric analysis (DSC-TGA). The results show that blending of PAN with PVC leads to improving of the electro spun ability of PVC with more stability, and the mean nanofiber diameter was90.873±40.82 nmat 25 : 75 PVC: PAN. Moreover, mechanical properties are ultimate tensile strength and modulus of elasticity decreasing with decreasing the blending ration from pure PVC to 75 : 25 PVC: PAN nanofibers by 71% and 83%, respectively, while the elongation at break increases by 79%, and decomposition temperatures decreased from 451.96 to 345.38°C when changing the PVC content from pure PVC to 25 : 75 PVC: PAN. On the other hand, changing of the nanofiber behavior from hydrophobicity to hydrophilic increased the PAN content in PVC: PAN blends. Furthermore, the low interaction between the chains of polymers and the crystallinity (%) and crystalline size (nm) of blend nanofibers slightly decreased compared to the pure polymers. According to all tests, the 25: 75 PVC: PAN was the best blending ratio, which gave a more stable nanofiber produced at low concentrations and more compatible between the PVC and PAN.

Thermo-mechanical and opto-electrical study of Cr-doped-ZnO-based polyvinyl chloride nanocomposites

Polymer nanocomposites exhibit unique physical properties inaccessible from their individual constituents, which are tunable through the type of the polymer matrix, the type and size of the incorporated nanoparticles, and the doping level, and therefore, can be utilized in a wide range of potential applications. Here, we report the fabrication of pure Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and PVC-based nanocomposites containing different loadings of pure and Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles, using solvent casting method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the obtained nanocomposite films confirmed the successful incorporation of nanoparticles within the PVC matrix, with higher dispersion quality for the Cr-doped ZnO samples. The prepared nanocomposite samples were found to possess higher thermo-mechanical stability, compared to pure PVC, resulting from the strong interaction between the nanoparticles and polymeric chains, as inferred from their thermogravimetric and dynamic mechanical analysis (TGA and DMA) profiles. Specifically, the temperatures corresponding to the onset and 50% weight loss as well as the glass transition temperature are increased by ~ 88, ~ 34, and ~ 16 °C, respectively, after loading selected amounts of the nanoparticles. In addition to the thermo-mechanical stability, the nanocomposites revealed potentially relevant dielectric response, where the dielectric permittivity exhibits remarkable enhancement, by 400%, compared to pristine PVC. The optical transmission of the PVC is strongly suppressed over the entire visible spectral regime, upon loading the nanoparticles, and its optical band gap (~ 4.1 eV) is red shifted toward the value of pristine ZnO nanoparticles (~ 3.3 eV), while the distinct Cr3+ and Cr6+ optical transitions are preserved for the nanocomposites. The obtained thermo-mechanical stability, required for working devices, together with the here reported improvements in the dielectric response for the nanocomposite samples may alter the typical applications of PVC polymers from being insulating materials to be utilized in energy storage and capacitors manufacture, while the preserved optical properties of the incorporated nanoparticles render these nanocomposites suitable candidates for optoelectronic devices.

Physical Properties and Transmitted Sunlight of Polyvinyl Chloride/ZnO Nanocomposites Films

The optical properties of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and PVC/Zinc Oxide (ZnO) films were considered with different amounts of ZnONPs (0.001, 0.002, 0.003, 0.004 and 0.005) g. Using a Tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution all films be prepared by casting method. XRD results showed the amorphous structure of PVC film and Hexagonal crystalline structure of ZnO NPs, PVC/ZnO nanocomposites appear as pattern of PVC films so the peaks of ZnO don’t appear in it. FESEM image of PVC, ZnO and structure of PVC/ZnO nanocomposites seems to have cluster aggregates in different size. FTIR spectra revealed that ZnONPs had no effect on the polymer structure as there are no covalent bonds between PVC and ZnO NPs. Increasing the amounts of ZnONPs was seen to improve the optical properties (Absorbance, absorption coefficient and extinction coefficient) for PVC polymer. PVC polymer transmittance and energy gap decreased from 5.25 eV to 4.98 eV with increasing the amounts of ZnO NPs in nanocomposites. The solar radiation intensity in Baghdad was measured at a rate of 1 hour for the pure PVC films and PVC/ZnONPs for seven consecutive days in a rate from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. (13 h). As can be observed, all films have the same ratio of transmitted radiation strength to sunlight intensity for all hours and days.

Development of Pure Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) with Excellent 3D Printability and Macro‐ and Micro‐Structural Properties

AbstractUnmodified polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has low thermal stability and high hardness. Therefore, using plasticizers as well as thermal stabilizers is inevitable, while it causes serious environmental and health issues. In this work, for the first time, pure food‐grade PVC with potential biomedical applications is processed and 3D printed. Samples are successfully 3D printed using different printing parameters, including velocity, raster angle, nozzle diameter, and layer thickness, and their mechanical properties are investigated in compression, bending, and tension modes. Scanning electron microscopy is also used to evaluate the bonding and microstructure of the printed layers. Among the mentioned printing parameters, raster angle and printing velocity influence the mechanical properties significantly, whereas the layer thickness and nozzle diameter has a little effect. Images from scanning electron microscopy also reveal that printing velocity greatly affects the final part's quality regarding defective voids and rasters’ bonding. The maximum tensile strength of 88.55 MPa is achieved, which implies the superiority of 3D‐printed PVC mechanical properties compared to other commercial filaments. This study opens an avenue to additively manufacture PVC that is the second most‐consumed polymer with cost‐effective and high‐strength features.

A thermo-kinetic investigation on the thermal degradation of polyvinyl chloride in the presence of magnetite and hematite

Electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) which is accumulated in large amounts world-wide contains hematite (Fe2O3) and significant quantities of magnetite (Fe3O4). Waste polyvinyl chloride (PVC) also poses a great environmental threat aside to accumulated EAFD. Both of these wastes have shown a great potential for their co-thermal treatment for metal extraction, thus minimising their environmental footprint. Herein, an investigation on the thermal degradation behaviour, reaction products, thermodynamics and the decomposition kinetics of PVC and its stoichiometric mixtures with Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 was conducted using non-isothermal thermogravimetric scans. The kinetic data suggests a significant increase in the average activation energy of PVC de-hydrochlorination from 122.6 ± 24.2 kJ/mol (pure PVC) to 177.0 ± 28.0 and 199.0 ± 77.0 kJ/mol when stoichiometric quantities of Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 were mixed with PVC. The inhibiting effect of both Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 on the degradation of PVC might be assigned to the capturing of emitted gaseous HCl which is known for its catalytic effect. This result suggests that EAFDs containing both Fe3O4 (in large amounts) and Fe2O3 can have an inhibiting effect on the de-hydrochlorination of PVC resulting in longer processing times or the requirement of higher processing temperatures for achieving reasonable reaction rates.

PMMA-Grafted Calcium Sulfate Whiskers for Applications as Fillers in PVC.

Calcium sulfate whiskers (CSWs) were hydroxylated with a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution and isolated for subsequent treatment with an ethanolic 3-(methacryloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane (KH570) solution to introduce C=C double bonds on the CSWs’ surfaces. Then, CSW-g-PMMA was prepared by grafting polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) onto the surface of modified CSW using in situ dispersion polymerization. The CSW-g-PMMA was used as a filler and melt-blended with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to prepare PVC-based composites. The surface chemical structure, PMMA grafting rate, and hydrophobic properties of CSW-g-PMMA were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and water contact angle measurements, respectively. The effects of the CSW-g-PMMA filler on the mechanical properties of the CSW-PMMA/PVC composites were also investigated. The results showed that NaOH treatment significantly increased the number of hydroxyl groups on the surface of the CSWs, which facilitated the introduction of KH570. PMMA was successfully grafted onto the KH570 with a grafting rate of 14.48% onto the surface of the CSWs. The CSW-g-PMMA had good interfacial compatibility and adhesion properties with the PVC matrix. The tensile, flexural, and impact strengths of the CSW-g-PMMA/PVC composite reached 39.28 MPa, 45.69 MPa, and 7.05 kJ/m2, respectively, which were 38.55%, 30.99%, and 20.10% higher than those of the CSW/PVC composite and 54.52%, 40.80%, and 32.52% higher than those of pure PVC, respectively. This work provides a new method for surface modification of inorganic fillers, resource utilization, and high value-added application of CSWs from phosphogypsum.

Poly Vinyl Chloride Additives and Applications-A Review

A Pure polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a white, brittle material and it is the third-largest polymers produced after polyethylene and polypropylene as 40 million tons of PVC are produced yearly. The basic structure of PVC is (C2H3Cl)n and it is produced by polymerization of the vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) with a polymerization degree ranges from 300 to 1500. The chlorine content in PVC is about 57% by weight, which makes it less dependent on hydrocarbon content. In this paper, we are going to reveal the PVC additives and applications.

Investigation of Magnetic Properties of Poly Vinyl Chloride Composites Prepared Using Different Ratios of Fe2O3 (Maghemite) Nanoparticles

Composites were prepared using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and different percentages of Fe2O3 nanoparticles. All composites were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy. Then, the thermal properties of the composites prepared in 1% and 10% ratios were examined. It was observed that the initial decomposition temperature (Ti) values of PVC composites prepared with Fe2O3 nanoparticles addition were lower than pure PVC. Magnetic properties of composites were examined with a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The saturation magnetization values of PVC composites prepared by using 1% and 10% Fe2O3 were 2.77 and 7.06 emu / g, respectively.

Preparation and characterization of mixed matrix membranes based on PVC/Al2O3 for the separation of toluene/n-heptane mixtures via pervaporation

ABSTRACT This study reports on the preparation and characterization of mixed matrix membranes, prepared by dispersing aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) matrix using tetrahydrofuran (THF) as a solvent via the casting solution method. We characterized the structure and properties of these membranes by XRD, FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX, swelling test and pervaporation testing. Swelling test of the PVC/Al2O3 mixed matrix membranes showed that the membranes exhibited preferential absorption of toluene, and the swelling rate of the membranes increased from 0.2% to a maximum of 37% in 50 wt% toluene/n-heptane. It was found that the PVC transport properties could be significantly modified by the amount of Al2O3 incorporated. The membranes were also tested for their ability to separate toluene/n-heptane by pervaporation. Among all the membranes prepared, the PVC-5%Al2O3 membrane exhibited the best pervaporation performance, with a normalized flux of 0.68 kg/m2.h and a separation factor of 12.22 for a 50 wt% toluene/n-heptane solution at 59°C, compared to that of pure PVC which has a flux of 0.05 kg/m2.h and a separation factor of 9.7 at 54°C in the same mixture.

Development of a Highly Efficient Environmentally Friendly Plasticizer.

The purpose of this work is the synthesis of adipic acid ester and the study of the possibility of its use as a PVC plasticizer. The resulting butyl phenoxyethyl adipate was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The compatibility, effectiveness and plasticizing effect of butyl phenoxyethyl adipate in comparison with dioctylphthalate (DOP) were determined. The new environmentally friendly plasticizer has good compatibility with PVC and high thermal stability. The effectiveness of the plasticizing action of adipate based on the glass-transition temperature was 132.2 °C in relation to pure PVC and 7.7 °C in comparison to compounds based on DOP. An increase in the fluidity of the melt of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds in the temperature range of 160–205 °C by 19–50% confirms a decrease in the energy intensity of the processes of manufacturing and the processing of polymer materials containing a new additive.

Synthesis and application of TiO2‐loaded ZnAlSn‐layered double hydroxide compounds as multifunctional nanofillers for polyvinyl chloride

AbstractIn this study, binary‐ and ternary‐layered double hydroxides (LDHs) loaded with titanium dioxide (TiO2‐ZnAl and TiO2‐ZnAlSn) were synthesized by a one‐step in situ coprecipitation method and then used as thermal and light stabilizers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). TiO2‐ZnAlSn has a unique nanostructure, high thermal stability, and good ultraviolet (UV)‐shielding property. The Congo red test shows that the static thermal stability time of PVC/TiO2‐ZnAlSn composite is 370% higher than that of pure PVC. The thermogravimetric analysis and accelerated weathering test suggest that the incorporation of TiO2‐ZnAlSn into the PVC matrix improves the thermal stability and anti‐UV‐aging property of the resulting composite, which is probably related to the lower photoluminescence intensity and formation of more O2−. This study provides a simple method to prepare TiO2‐loaded ZnAlSn‐LDH as multifunctional nanofillers for PVC.

Fabrication of a High Water Flux Conductive MWCNTs/PVC Composite Membrane with Effective Electrically Enhanced Antifouling Behavior

Membrane fouling is a major issue that deteriorates the performance of membrane filtration systems. The electrically assisted membrane filtration process is proven to be effective for alleviating membrane fouling. In this study, we synthesized an electrically conductive membrane by incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The synthesized membranes have larger porosity than the PVC membrane (incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG)), and thus possess much higher water flux under the same testing conditions. The initial and stable water fluxes are 2033 L/(m2·h) and 750 L/(m2·h), respectively, which are much higher than that of the pure PVC membrane. More importantly, the membrane has higher surface charge density and excellent electrical conductivity, but the surface hydrophilicity and toughness decreased with the addition of the MWCNTs. The 25 wt % MWCNTs/PVC composite membrane possesses suitable electrical conductivity of 0.128 S/m. The same membrane shows electro-enhanced antifouling performance during the antifouling test with yeast as a model foulant because the external electric field (−2 V) impulses a strong repulsion force while producing some micro bubbles to repel the foulant; thus, the membrane fouling is suppressed. In the current study, we develop a simple method to fabricate the electrically conductive membrane for application in the electrically assisted membrane filtration process.

Influence of GO-Ag nano-filler on the antibacterial, antifouling and hydrophilic characteristics of polyvinyl chloride membrane

The integral hydrophobic characteristic of polymers hinders their implementations towards water treatment. In the present work, highly hydrophilic and antifouling polyvinyl chloride membranes were fabricated based on graphene oxide-silver (GO-Ag) nanolayers. The distinctive infiltration approach of polyvinyl chloride resin through the stacked GO-Ag layers results in surface availability of highly hydrophilic graphene oxide nanosheets. Incorporation of different weight percent of GO-Ag to the polyvinyl chloride resin increases the permeability, rejection and antifouling properties of polyvinyl chloride membranes. Water contact angle of pure polyvinyl chloride was found to decrease from 92.5° to 61.4° for GO-Ag based membrane. Water flux and bovine serum albumin rejection of pure polyvinyl chloride membrane were improved from 192 Lm−2 h−1 to 613 Lm−2 h−1 and 81.5% to 92.1% respectively. Besides this, graphene oxide silver based membrane depicts least irreversible fouling 14.3% and highest flux recovery ratio 85.6%. Maintenance of high flux recovery ratio of P/GO-Ag 0.5 wt% membrane after three consecutive cycles of water and bovine serum albumin filtration justify the high durability of membrane. The synthesized GO-Ag nanoadditive showed appreciable antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. Thermo gravimetric analysis and Differential scanning calorimetry analysis of GO-Ag based membranes proves their high thermal stability as well.

Surface modification of silica micro-powder by titanate coupling agent and its utilization in PVC based composite

Surface modification of silica micro-powder (SMP) was performed by using commercially available titanate coupling agent KTTO, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based composites were prepared by melting and blending PVC and processing aids with SMP before and after modification as fillers. Through XRD, FT-IR, XPS, SEM characterizations and contact angle test, it is determined that the surface of SMP was chemically modified by KTTO successfully. The dispersity of SMP was improved after the KTTO modification treatment although no change was found in the crystal structure of SMP. Moreover, excellent hydrophobicity was achieved by a layer of organic molecules on the surface of modified silica micro-powder (mSMP). The static and dynamic mechanical properties, heat resistance, thermal conductivity, and thermal stability of pure PVC, SMP/PVC, and mSMP/PVC composites with respect to cross-sectional micromorphology were compared. The results indicate that KTTO modification treatment effectively improved the mechanical properties of mSMP/PVC composites, especially increasing the tensile strength and notched impact strength by 43% and 36%, respectively. A significant enhancement of the interfacial bonding between the mSMP filler and PVC matrix was also identified. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity and thermal stability of mSMP/PVC composite were improved by the KTTO modification. The mSMP/PVC composite has a potential application in plates and profiles for construction and buildings.

Fabrication, structural, optical, and dielectric properties of PVC-PbO nanocomposites, as well as their gamma-ray shielding capability

Physical, linear optical, dielectric spectroscopy and photon shielding competence of fabricated PVC (polyvinyl chloride) doped with xPbO nanoparticles (x = 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 25 wt%) have been investigated. The density of PVC is increased from 1.4451 to 2.1014 g cm−3 by incorporation 25 wt% of PbO. The optical band gap (Egap) decreases from 5.14 to 4.54 eV for the direct transition and from 4.50 to 3.75 eV for the indirect transition as the concentration of PbO increases. Urbach energy (Eurbach) increased from 0.198 eV for the pure PVC sample to 0.673 eV for PVC loaded with 25 wt% of PbO. Refractive index (n) increased with the increase of PbO concentration. The less dielectric constant (ε′) values of all nanocomposites were obtained than that for pure PVC. Values of dielectric loss (tan δ) for all investigated samples decreases with increasing frequency up to 50 kHz and become constant for further frequency. Both linear (LAC) and mass attenuation coefficients (MAC) values of PVC were gradually increased by increase concentration of PbO while both half value layer (HVL) and relaxation length (RL) value were gradually decreased by increase concentration of PbO. Pure PVC with density (ρ = 1.4451 g cm−3) has neutron shielding characteristics better than that obtained for PVC/25 wt% PbO with higher density (ρ = 2.1014 g cm−3). The highest ∑R is 0.06252 cm2 g−1 for pure PVC, and the lowest is 0.05003 cm2 g−1 for PVC/25 wt% PbO, in contrast. Finally, the obtained results confirm that the fabricated PVC-PbO nanocomposites can be applied in optical, electronic, and radiation shielding applications.

Exploring of Polyvinylchloride / Silicon Carbide Nanocomposites Containing Different Amounts of SiC Nanoparticles

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the popular materials that extensively used in different areas, so scientists are trying to investigate its characteristics in different formats, such as blends and composites, to improve its properties. Due to the distinctive nano particles’ properties, polymer-based nanocomposites can offer new characteristics to pure polymers and can widen their applications in different areas. In this study, we added different compositions of silicon carbide (SiC) to PVC to investigate its molecular, thermal, and microstructural properties. Attenuated total reflection- infrared (ATR-IR), thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and optical microscopy (OM) were utilized to study molecular bond structure, thermal degradation, caloric properties, and surface morphology of the pure PVC and its composites. The first derivative of TG results showed that the temperature of the maximum thermal degradation of the PVC increased with increasing SiC nanoparticle ratio. Also, it is found that the PVC/12 mol% SiC started thermal degradation at comparably low temperature, however, the amount of residue of the composites is more than the pure PVC. Additionally, SiC nanoparticles caused the melting temperature of the composites to slightly shifts to a lower temperature compared to the PVC. It was observed that silicon carbide diminished the smoothness of the surface by increasing its fraction in the composite.

The effect of Zn0.95Ni0.05O nanoparticles on the physical properties of polyvinyl chloride

Nanoparticles of Zn0.095Ni0.05O (ZNO) were prepared by the co-precipitation technique and added to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to get nanocomposite films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed on nano-sized ZNO to test its crystal structure. Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to check the homogeneity of PVC and the dispersion of ZNO on the surface of the polymer matrix. The crystal size of ZNO is about 40.5 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) revealed the same element compositions of ZNO. The dielectric properties of ZNO/PVC nanocomposite film were analyzed in details within the frequency and temperature ranges of 0.5–1000 kHz, and 303–430 K, respectively. The dielectric permittivity as well as the ac conductivity of pure PVC increased noticeably with adding ZNO nanoparticles. The dependence of both temperature and frequency of the dielectric modulus, M", showed α-relaxation due to the micro-Brownian motion of the main polymeric chains. The UV–vis spectroscopy revealed a pronounced increase in both absorbance and extinction coefficient by adding ZNO to PVC. Different optical parameters were calculated. The outcome results of this work were compared and discussed with similar nanocomposite films.

Effects of inorganic‐organic surface modification on the mechanical and thermal properties of poly(vinyl chloride) composites reinforced with fly‐ash

AbstractFly ash (FA) derived from the combustion of coal is considered a potential reinforcing filler for polymers, but its application is somewhat limited by the number of hydroxyl groups on the surface. In this study, FA was modified with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (denoted as OH‐FA), resulting in an increase in the number of OH groups on the surface of FA and thus improvement of the interfacial adhesion between FA and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). OH‐FA was subjected to ball milling to induce mechanochemical activation aided by a new polyether titanate coupling agent (ETi4) (denoted as M‐ETi4‐OH‐FA). The results show that the functional groups of ETi4 can interact with the OH groups on the surface of FA via electrostatic interactions, chemical interactions, intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen bonds by ball milling, which can increase the compatibility and interfacial bonding between FA and PVC, and improve the mechanical and thermal characteristics of PVC composites. Significantly, the impact strength and yield strength of M‐ETi4‐OH‐FA/PVC composite reaches 6.2 kJ/m2 and 64.9 MPa, which is increased by 86.8% and 13.6% compared with that of PVC, and by 18.2% and 14.6% compared with that of ETi4‐OH‐FA/PVC, respectively. The thermal stability is also higher than that of other PVC composites, and the rapidest degradation temperature reaches 297°C, which is 16°C higher than that of pure PVC.

Fabrication and characterization of polymer-based nanocomposite membrane modified by magnetite nanoparticles for Cd 2+ and Pb 2+ removal from aqueous solutions

In the present work, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/magnetite nanocomposite membrane (NCM) was fabricated by a casting technique for the removal of Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions. Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized from the Ramalina sinensis plant extract. The synthesized materials were characterized by UV–visible, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-Ray spectrometry, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, vibrating sample magnetometry, and thermal gravimetric analysis techniques. The fabricated NCM enhanced the adsorption capability of PVC without the use of any catalyst. The size of the magnetite NPs distributed in the NCM structure varied in the range of 25–70 nm. The specific surface area of the fabricated NCM was found to be 5.670m 2 ·g -1 , which is approximately thrice greater than the reported value for pure PVC. The removal process of both Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions from aqueous solution showed the best fit to the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacities of cadmium and lead ions were estimated to be 11.55 and 11.40mg·g -1 , respectively. A kinetic investigation showed that the removal process of both metal ions can be well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results obtained from adsorption investigations revealed that the synthesized NCM can be used for the removal of Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions from aqueous media.